New d'Uccle Chicks ! ( With a couple of Silkies thrown in. )

 This week we had some more chicks hatch out from the Porcelain hen and Self Blue rooster. Here she is in the food bowl with the chicks under her.

 Here is the chicks father who is a Self Blue Mottled d'Uccle.

 Above is the nest box that the hen hatched the chicks in, which was made using a board and a milk crate. I have found the d'Uccles tend to spend most of  their time off the ground if given the chance, and it seems also that they prefer to nest off the ground. Most of my d'Uccles won't lay eggs or go broody if the nest box is on the ground, so keeping the nest box about two feet off the ground has worked well.

 Here are the seven new chicks, two of which are silkies . The other five are purebred d'Uccles, one of which is a Self Blue Mottled. The fact that this pairing produced both Porcelains and Self Blue Mottleds is still puzzling to me but is probably because of the mix of Porcelain, Mille Fleur and Black Mottled genetics involved. ( To read about the parents' breeding click here * )

 This is the Self Blue Mottled chick from this batch, and the second one out of this pairing.

 Above is the Porcelain hen with all the chicks.

 And here is the rooster and hen guarding the chicks. By Bugs.

How to Tell Different Colored d'uccles Apart

 Above is a Porcelain chick. It is a pale blue and cream color. Note~ all pure- bred d'uccle chicks have a beard feathered legs and a single comb.

 Above is my porcelain rooster  Platinum ,who is the father of the chick above. This is an example of what a Porcelain will grow to look like.

 Here are two Mille Fleur d'uccles chicks. They are orange and black or orange and gray. Note the beard feathered  legs and single comb.

 Here is my Mille Fleur rooster, Crimson. He is the father of the chicks above. He is a good example of an adult Mille Fleur.

 Above is a Black Mottled d'uccle chick. They can be the color above or solid black with a little white .

 Here is my Black- Mottled hen, the mother of the chick above. Black- Mottled adults are solid black with white dots. You can read more about the color in another post I did called Black- Mottleds, a challenging color.

 Here are a pair of white d'uccles that I used to have. The chicks are a white or pale yellow. I've found that by one month old you can sex d'uccle chicks and pretty much get guaranteed results. Roosters have a taller bright red comb and taller tails, hens have short pale orange or pink combs. If you would like to sex them earlier you should get  the book 'Sexing All Fowl' from the library or a  hatchery. So far I've had 100% success  from the sexing methods , as far as
I know My pet chicken is the only hatchery that sells sexed bantams so its a good skill to have .

Above are a Golden Neck and Self -Blue d'uccle .As chicks these colors can get mixed up with Mille Fleur's and Porcelains. Golden-Necks  are solid orange as chicks and self- blues are solid light blue.

 Above is a diagram of 6 of the 10 standard colors , colors not shown here are Porcelain, Gray , Buff, and Blue, Self blue pullet below. by Bugs.

3chicks

This is my brother holding a 9 week old porcelain hen.

These are my d'uccles and cross bred chick in there coop.

This is my 9 week old porcelain rooster .

This is my porcelain hen, when I went out to the pen yesterday to watch my chicks for a while this chick came up and sat down on my lap and fell asleep.

Bugs Draws Bantam Chickens

Bugs loves to study about and draw his chickens. Here is a Bantam Bearded Booted Mlle Fleur.

Bearded Porcelain Booted Bantam

One of the best ways to study any bird is to really observe everything about it, and drawing the bird helps you see and remember the details. Anyone desiring to raise poultry for practical reasons, for pleasure, or for showing ,should study their birds. Of course, enjoying and appreciating their beauty and personalities only makes this pursuit all the more fun! I know my grandson ,Bugs, loves his chickens and his drawings tell me his interest in poultry will most likely be life-long. I hope so !

Bantam Chicks Growing Quickly

Bug's chicks are growing quickly. He has been observing and studying them to see just how well they are growing and also how well they are measuring up to their breed standard. This is one of his favorites.

We are not quite sure what variety this bantam chick is . Soon, very soon, we believe our suspicions will be confirmed, but we're not yet ready to proclaim him ( chick on the left) because his mottled spots are not "mottled" enough to make Oreo as wonderful in type as we hope he is.

Oreo

The hen we believe to be the same variety as Oreo.

Mlle Fleur chicks.

Granny Baa's bantam black Cochins. I ( Granny) am growing very fond of these chicks, they alone are mine. Their personalities are very different from the rest of the chicks. These little black chicks are very friendly and docile. Not the least bit flighty, they amble over to me as I feed and water the chicks. They are also shaped like little black roly-poly balls. Watching them just makes me happy. I am very glad I added these chicks to the order of Mlle Fleurs, Porcelains, and de'Uccles.

Raising chicks is so much fun, and so interesting. The benefits of having chickens, both bantam and standard size are many, but pure entertainment ranks high on the list.These chicks chase each other, play with each other, and are also an on-going learning experience.If you are a bit stressed out, just grab a cup of coffee or tea and go on out to the chicken pen to sit a spell and watch the chickens.You cannot help but leave them with a smile and a chuckle...and maybe a little better perspective on your day. At least enough to help you wake up and begin anew another day, after all, your chickens count on you to come back and spend a little time with them. ( O.K. They need you to feed and water them, but that works for you , doesn't it ? )

The Chicks Are Growing, Speculating On Their Variety

This is a white D'uccle which went into the APA Standard of Perfection in 1879.
This is Oreo I don't know what he is yet but I think he's Cuckoo D'uccle

These two are some of my favorites , these are Porcelain and self blue Belgian D'uccles.
These are Mille Fleurs which were one of the first colors.  Michael Van Gelder created the breed between 1890 and1900. They went into the APA Standard of Perfection fourteen years later.Van Gelder created the breed by crossing Belgian d'Anvers with Booted bantams.

These two are a Porcelain D'uccle and a Gold neck D'uccle.
These three here are Black D'uccles.

These are Black D'uccles, Black Cochins and Oreo.
This is a photo of a Porcelain a Mille Fleur a Gold neck aBlack d'uccle a White d'uccle and Oreo.

 Me holding my d'Uccles.

New Chicks , New Blog !

This is Oreo I think he is a Belgian Antwerp Cuckoo.
My chicks when they arrived.
Me and my brother holding Oreo.
My group of D'uccles which are Porcelains, Mille Fleurs and assorted D'uccles.
My chicks in their new pen.